Alcohol content relating to aging time

After reading through a lot of strings on this website, it sounds like the amount of time you have to age cider is variable. I feel like the trend is the higher the alcohol content, the longer you have to age it. Is there a general rule of thumb out there for alcohol content vs aging time?

I would also be curious to know why this may be the case from a scientific perspective.

Any thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated!

In general, yes. The real trend is: the more off flavors or harshness, the longer you age. And since higher alcohol content means more fermentation took place, and probably more starting material, there tend to be more off flavors and so in in higher alcohol creations.

The reasons why things tend to mellow over time are fairly complex and poorly understood, but it basically boils down to volatile compounds breaking down over time or reacting with other volatile compounds.

A good rule of thumb for cider is 3 months for 5%, plus a month per % ABV over.

Rules of thumb are good! Thanks David.